Display easel



Patented Apr. 19, 1938 UNITED sir-res 'i @HQE DISPLAY EASEL tion of Missouri Application February 19, 1937, Serial No. 126,655

l Claim.

This invention relates to display easels, and has special reference to easels for supporting shirts and other garments in an appropriate manner for display by merchants.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved display easel for shirts, etc. composed of cardboard or the like and comprising a blank including a front portion having at its upper end an element for engagement with the collar of. a

shirt to support the shirt in appropriately folded arrangement to expose and display the front of the shirt including the collar, and having side members pivotally connected with the front portion and adapted to be extended rearwardly to support the easel in proper position, and a retaining device p-ivotally connected with the front portion and movable into and out of engagement with the side members to hold them in their rearwardly extended position or to release them so that the easel may be made flat.

Another object of the invention is to provide an easel of the character mentioned having an extended portion at its upper end above the shirt mounted on the easel for use as a handle and as a surface on which advertising may be displayed.

Other objects of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the annexed drawing, in which- Fig. l is a front elevation of the blank before the side members are extended rearwardly and engaged by the releasable retaining device to support the easel.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the easel in its upright position.

Fig. 3 is a View showing a shirt mounted on the easel.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the easel with a part thereof in section, showing the manner in which the shirt collar is engaged by the supporting element.

The easel blank is composed of cardboard or the like, and includes a front portion I having its upper end an element 2 for engagement 45 with the collar 3 of a shirt 4 to support the shirt in appropriately folded arrangement to display the front of the shirt and the collar when the easel is formed.

The easel blank also comprises two side mem- 50 bers 5 and 6 pivotally connected with the respective sides of the front portion I by hinges l and 8 and adapted to be extended rearwardly and angularly from the front portion I to support the easel in upright position. A retaining device comprising a central portion 9 and two end portions IIJ is formed by an irregular cut I I through the cardboard illustrated by the solid line beginning at the points I2 at the edges of the front portion I and extending obliquely upwardly and outwardly therefrom, and thence angularly and also along curved lines to complete the cut. The cut II extends entirely across the front portion I and into the two side members 5 and 6. Said cut I I divides the front portion I into two sections which are connected by said side members 10 5 and 6. As a consequence, the side members 5 and 6 function to hold the upper and lower sections of the front portion I in proper relationship at all times, and also to support the easel in an inclined position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. 15 lThe retaining device is pivotally connected with the front portion by a long hinge I3. Formed in this Way, the hinge device has therein two spaced notches I4. The walls of the notches I4 are adapted to engage in notches I5 formed by the cut in the side members 5 and 6 when said side members are extended rearwardly and the retaining device is swung rearwardly and downwardly to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The supporting element 2 for the shirt is inte- 25 gral with the front portion I and is formed by a cut I6, leaving said supporting element integrally connected with the front portion I by a horizontal hinge I1, permitting said supporting element to be swung upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2 preparatory for engagement with the collar 3 of the shirt, as shown in Fig. 4.

The front portion I has an extension I8 projecting upwardly relatively a considerable distance beyond the shirt supporting element 2 so 35 that, when the shirt is mounted on the easel, said extension I8 is well above the shirt, functioning both as a handle member for moving the easel and as a surface on which advertising or other matter may be displayed.

From the foregoing, it is readily apparent that these easels may be manufactured at low cost; that they may be shipped while they are flat; that the easels may be made up from the blanks without difculty, and will remain in their completed form so long as the retaining device 9||l is` interlocked with the Walls of the notches I5 of the side members 5 and 6. The shirts or other garments displayed on the easels may be placed Jthereon and removed therefrom without difficulty.

I claim- A display easel for a folded shirt having a collar in connection therewith composed of a section of cardboard or the like and comprising a front portion having a transverse cut dividing said front portion into upper and lower sections, rearwardly extended side members integrally connected with the side edges of both of said sections of said front portion holding said sections of said front portion in alinement and supporting the easel in an inclined position, a supiA porting element integral with the upper end of the upper section of said front portion adapted to f extend upwardly and engage between the cape and band of the shirt collar and thereby support the shirt flatwise against the front of the easel 

